Central Asian States Adopt Joint Statement on Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty

On 8 September 2006, the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia (Treaty on the CANWFZ) was signed in the city of Semipalatinsk. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of this event, the Foreign Ministers of the States Parties to the Treaty adopted a Joint Statement.

In the Statement, the heads of the foreign ministries of the five countries of the region reaffirm their commitment to the goals and principles of the Treaty, which became the first and only agreement establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and bordering two nuclear-weapon States.

Recognising the importance of the Treaty on the CANWFZ in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime, regional and international security, as well as the peaceful use of atomic energy, the Ministers address key issues on the global disarmament agenda, including the outcomes of the Eleventh Review Conference of the NPT, the status of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the ratification of the Protocol on Negative Security Assurances, as well as prospects for cooperation with other existing and emerging nuclear-weapon-free zones.

The document reaffirms the unity of the Central Asian States’ positions on regional security issues and their contribution to global efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.